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It might be the last Celtics stand for the tandem of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett but they showed their class and determination as Boston humbled the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
Age, a lack of depth on the roster and the strains of the National Basketball Association salary cap have put the Boston future of Garnett and Pierce in doubt but the gritty veterans refuse to go out quietly this postseason.
Teetering on the brink of elimination down 3-0 in their best-of-seven series, the Celtics won an overtime thriller in Boston to stay alive and followed with a 92-86 win on Wednesday to send the series back to Boston for Game Six on Friday.
The 36-year-old Garnett, in his 18th season after entering the NBA out of high school, scored 16 points and hauled down 18 rebounds in nearly 39 minutes on the floor.
Pierce, 35, who has played all 15 years of his NBA career in Boston, matched his running mate with 16 points and logged more than 44 minutes on court as the Celtics outbattled the Knicks using just seven players.
— Reported by Larry Fine of Reuters
